diff --git a/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/skills/main.py b/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/skills/main.py
index 0500caacdf..2e946229fe 100644
--- a/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/skills/main.py
+++ b/lib/cli/src/crewai_cli/skills/main.py
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ def list_cached(self) -> None:
                                 meta.get("version") or "-",
                                 str(skill_dir),
                             )
-                        except (json.JSONDecodeError, KeyError):
+                        except (json.JSONDecodeError, UnicodeDecodeError, KeyError):
                             console.print(
                                 f"[yellow]Warning: skipping malformed cache entry at {meta_file}[/yellow]"
                             )
diff --git a/lib/cli/tests/skills/test_main.py b/lib/cli/tests/skills/test_main.py
index db8fb5d887..b202a7434c 100644
--- a/lib/cli/tests/skills/test_main.py
+++ b/lib/cli/tests/skills/test_main.py
@@ -3,12 +3,14 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import io
+import json
 import os
 import tempfile
 import zipfile
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 from pathlib import Path
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
 
 import pytest
@@ -16,6 +18,10 @@
 from crewai_cli.shared.token_manager import TokenManager
 
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from crewai_cli.skills.main import SkillCommand
+
+
 @contextmanager
 def in_temp_dir():
     original = os.getcwd()
@@ -257,6 +263,36 @@ def test_publish_proceeds_outside_git_repo(self, skill_command):
 
 
 class TestSkillListCached:
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("metadata", [b"\xff\xfe", b"{invalid json"])
+    def test_list_cached_skips_unreadable_metadata(
+        self,
+        skill_command: SkillCommand,
+        tmp_path: Path,
+        capsys: pytest.CaptureFixture[str],
+        metadata: bytes,
+    ) -> None:
+        cache_root = tmp_path / ".crewai" / "skills" / "acme"
+        broken = cache_root / "a-broken"
+        healthy = cache_root / "z-healthy"
+        broken.mkdir(parents=True)
+        healthy.mkdir()
+        (broken / ".crewai_meta.json").write_bytes(metadata)
+        (healthy / ".crewai_meta.json").write_text(
+            json.dumps({"org": "acme", "name": "z-healthy", "version": "1.0.0"}),
+            encoding="utf-8",
+        )
+
+        with (
+            in_temp_dir(),
+            patch("crewai_cli.skills.main.Path.home", return_value=tmp_path),
+        ):
+            skill_command.list_cached()
+
+        output = capsys.readouterr().out
+        assert "@acme/z-healthy" in output
+        assert "skipping malformed cache entry" in output
+        assert (broken / ".crewai_meta.json").read_bytes() == metadata
+
     def test_list_cached_empty(self, skill_command, capsys):
         with in_temp_dir():
             skill_command.list_cached()
diff --git a/lib/crewai/src/crewai/skills/cache.py b/lib/crewai/src/crewai/skills/cache.py
index 7e35fbc6b6..29af6a3597 100644
--- a/lib/crewai/src/crewai/skills/cache.py
+++ b/lib/crewai/src/crewai/skills/cache.py
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ def list_cached(self) -> list[SkillMetadata]:
                         results.append(
                             json.loads(meta_file.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
                         )
-                    except (json.JSONDecodeError, KeyError):
+                    except (json.JSONDecodeError, UnicodeDecodeError, KeyError):
                         _logger.debug(
                             "Skipping malformed cache entry: %s",
                             meta_file,
diff --git a/lib/crewai/tests/skills/test_cache.py b/lib/crewai/tests/skills/test_cache.py
index ba052094ad..5d2f5388b6 100644
--- a/lib/crewai/tests/skills/test_cache.py
+++ b/lib/crewai/tests/skills/test_cache.py
@@ -165,6 +165,20 @@ def test_list_cached(self, tmp_path: Path) -> None:
         names = {e["name"] for e in entries}
         assert names == {"skill-a", "skill-b", "skill-c"}
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("metadata", [b"\xff\xfe", b"{invalid json"])
+    def test_list_cached_skips_unreadable_metadata(
+        self, tmp_path: Path, metadata: bytes
+    ) -> None:
+        cache = SkillCacheManager(cache_root=tmp_path)
+        archive = _make_tar_gz({"SKILL.md": "content"})
+        broken = cache.store("acme", "a-broken", "1.0.0", archive)
+        healthy = cache.store("acme", "z-healthy", "1.0.0", archive)
+        (broken / ".crewai_meta.json").write_bytes(metadata)
+        expected = json.loads((healthy / ".crewai_meta.json").read_text())
+
+        assert cache.list_cached() == [expected]
+        assert (broken / ".crewai_meta.json").read_bytes() == metadata
+
     def test_invalidate_existing(self, tmp_path: Path) -> None:
         cache = SkillCacheManager(cache_root=tmp_path)
         archive = _make_tar_gz({"SKILL.md": "x"})